How do you file a final return for someone who died?

What the final return is

The final return is the last ordinary income tax return for the person who died. The personal representative, meaning an executor, an administrator or anyone in charge of the decedent's property, must file it for the year of death, along with any returns the decedent did not file for earlier years. A surviving spouse can have to file in some situations, and that is covered by the joint return rules below. This page is about the mechanics of the return itself. The question of who is required to file and who signs when a spouse is involved is covered in more detail by a sibling page on this site, which is built from Publication 501.

Because the tax period ends on the date of death, the return is usually shorter than twelve months. Someone who died on March 21, 2025 has a final return that runs from January 1, 2025 to March 21, 2025. Everything the person earned or received after that date belongs on a different return: the estate's, or a beneficiary's.

The prior-year trap

Publication 559 spells out a case that catches families out. If the person died after the close of a tax year but before filing the return for that year, the return for the year just closed is not the final return. It is a regular return that the personal representative still has to file. The publication's example is S. Smith, who died March 21, 2025 before filing the 2024 return. The 2024 return was due April 15, 2025. The final return covering January 1 to March 21, 2025 is due April 15, 2026. The checker above reproduces this: enter a date of death, tick the box if the earlier year was already filed, and it shows both returns.

Whose income goes on it

The decedent's income on the final return is generally determined as if the person were still alive, except that the tax period ends on the date of death. The accounting method the person regularly used before death decides what counts. A person on the cash method reports only the items actually or constructively received before death. Coupon interest on bonds is constructively received if the coupons matured in the final tax year even though they were never cashed, so it goes on the final return. A dividend is constructively received if it was available for use without restriction, but if the person died after a dividend was declared and before the check arrived in the mail from a corporation that customarily mails checks, it was not received before death and stays off the final return.

A person on an accrual method reports the income normally accrued before death. Amounts that were earned but fall outside both categories are income in respect of a decedent and are taxed to whoever receives them; see the page on income in respect of a decedent for that.

Some items need special handling. A partner's share of partnership items is figured as if the partnership year ended on the date of death, and the final return includes the partnership year that ended within the final tax year plus the stub period to the date of death. S corporation shareholders do the same for their share of items. For self-employment tax only, a partner's income runs through the end of the month of death. In a community property state, half of the income and expenses of either spouse may be treated as the other's. If an HSA, Archer MSA or Medicare Advantage MSA passes to the estate, its fair market value at death is income on the final return; if a beneficiary receives it, different rules apply. Accelerated death benefits received on the life of a terminally or chronically ill person are generally not income.

Interest and dividend forms

Forms 1099 reporting interest and dividends the decedent earned before death should be included on the final return. Payers should issue a separate 1099 for income earned after death and paid to the estate or another recipient. When a single 1099-INT mixes both, report the whole amount on Schedule B, show a subtotal, then subtract the part that belongs to someone else and label the subtraction as a nominee distribution. You can also ask the payer for a corrected form.

Name, address and signature

Write DECEASED, the decedent's name and the date of death across the top of the return. On a joint return, put the names and address of the decedent and the survivor in the name and address fields. If there is no joint return, enter the decedent's name in the name field and the personal representative's name and address in the address field. If a personal representative has been appointed, that person signs, and the surviving spouse also signs a joint return. If none was appointed, the surviving spouse signs a joint return and writes Filing as surviving spouse. If there is no representative and no spouse, the person in charge of the property signs as personal representative. A paid preparer signs in the preparer area as usual. You can also check the Third Party Designee box to let the IRS talk to someone about processing questions.

Deductions, refunds and extra paper

The rules for deductions that apply to individuals also apply to the final return, and the deductible items shown are those the decedent paid, or accrued if on an accrual method, before death. If you do not itemize, the full standard deduction is allowed regardless of when death occurred. Funeral expenses cannot be deducted on the final Form 1040; they may be deductible on the estate tax return, Form 706. Medical expenses have a special rule covered on a separate page. If tax was withheld or estimated tax was paid, a return must be filed to get the refund even when no return is otherwise required, and Form 1310 may be needed. A personal representative can also obtain an extension for the decedent. Do not attach the death certificate; keep it and provide it if the IRS asks.

Where and when

The final return is due when the decedent's return would have been due had death not occurred. For a calendar year taxpayer that is April 15 following the year of death, whenever in the year death happened, moved to the next business day if it lands on a weekend or legal holiday. It can be filed electronically and goes to the IRS Service Center for the place where you live. A decedent who would have had to file Form 1040-NR as a nonresident alien files that form for the final year.

Sources

• IRS Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators (2025): Final Income Tax Return for Decedent (Form 1040 or 1040-SR), Name, Address, and Signature, When and Where To File, Filing Requirements, Joint Return, Income To Include, Deductions. Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 559 (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Dollar limits and dates in this publication are for 2025; check the current publication and form instructions for your tax year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it.